The Solstice Court by Jade Juniper

Author:Jade Juniper [Juniper, Jade]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whimberry Books
Published: 2024-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

The Bear

“Psst—Dar.”

Andarios rubbed at the sleep built-up in the corner of each eye, and forced heavy blinks to better see his pre-dawn assailant. He was unsurprised to find Kezerah inches from his face, nothing but freckles and violet this close. He groaned.

“I swear, if that moon isn’t at least at the bell tower, I’ll reincarnate you myself.”

She gave a rushed glance out the window and her soft curls tickled at his nose, then she turned back with an impish grin. “It’s exactly at the bell tower.”

A half an hour early then. Not her worst offense. If he hurried he could get breakfast at the barracks before riding the perimeter.

Andarios rose, back cracking in protest as he did so. Kezerah switched places with him, flopping onto his still warm bed. Her body was far smaller than the impression he had left behind in the mattress. He grabbed for his breeches, dragging them up under his nightshirt.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked. It had been some time since Kezerah had snuck into his chambers, their schedules always a miss with his training regime. A light sleeper, he’d felt her come in, but hadn’t had the energy to ask her.

“I was thinking about last night,” Kezerah said, twisting to lay on her side, cheek in hand. “Do you think I should have gone with him?” ‘Him’ he knew to be Ambrose; Kezerah’s every third thought since his arrival.

“Tch. You were angry. That plate of food would have ended up in his face.”

Kezerah drew invisible lines into his mattress. “Hmm. Maybe.”

“You aren’t mad anymore, are you?” This was what made their friendship so easy. A moment’s annoyance, gone in a blink.

“I should be, shouldn’t I?” Kezerah tossed her legs against the wall. Her head now hung suspended off the bed, hair sweeping his floor.

“You shouldn’t be anything you’re not.” Andarios quickened his pace in getting ready. “Besides, pretending to be angry just for the sake of it sounds exhausting.” ‘Like Rorrik,’ he thought with a roll of his eyes.

Kezerah sighed and there was a thump as she slumped to the floor. “It really is.”

Andarios could tell she was in one of her whimsical moods that led to mischief. He looked at the moon. It now crested in the first lights of dawn. Early enough to get breakfast, not early enough for a Kezerah-filled shenanigan.

“Then why don’t you go back to sleep?” he asked. “You look half dead.”

“Because someone ate the majority of my pork chop last night, and I’m hungry.”

Andarios’ stomach growled. “You gave it to me. Come on, we can get leftovers in the barracks.” The cooks often turned leftover meals into morning stews for the soldiers.

Kezerah got up, her smile curving into one he knew all too well. “I was thinking we’d sneak over to the kitchens. They’re making egg tarts for breakfast, and you always miss them.”

Andarios finished buckling his belt, and tossed his leather padding over his shoulder. “That’ll take too long.”

“Only if you’re slow.”

“I am slow.” Andarios thought back to yesterday’s training.

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